Bitten

Brutal

In the morning I wake up long before Louis,  yet again. I tiptoe other to the shelf of food so I can just eat a small breakfast by myself. I look at Louis lying in bed the wrong way still up against the wall where I rolled him over. I laugh to myself about how funny he looks. I grab the can opener and a can of oranges for me to enjoy. As I am almost done opening up the can it slips from my hands and the remains spill out everywhere. I mouth to myself, “Smooth…” I look over to see Louis slightly moving in his sleep but going back into his original position. I grab an old towel that is folded nicely on a shelf and start to clean up the mess that I made. I throw the towel into a corner to start a dirty clothes pile. I put my hair up into a bun and slip on my boots. I grab my bow and quiver so that I can go out to get us some fresh meat. I throw the rope ladder back down since last night I had brought it up. I go down the rope faster than usual because I want Louis to wake up to a nice breakfast instead of having to wait for it. As I am going down the ladder I lose my footing and plummet about seven feet in the air to the ground. When I landed I must have landed in such a way that made my ankle feel as if a bear was tearing at it. I sit on the ground while applying pressure to my ankle. I tried not to scream but I just couldn’t help it. I screamed for bloody murder in spite of the treacherous feeling coming from my ankle. I heard loud thuds coming from the tree house and Louis came racing to the deck. I am unable to communicate in anything besides whimpers. He shouts, “Nevaeh what happened?” I still sit there rocking back and forth holding my ankle in pain. He climbs down the ladder and runs toward me.

“I fell from the ladder when I wasn’t even halfway down” I say through my teeth. “But it’s ok I’m fine.” I stand up and the pain is even more excruciating than I could ever imagine. I try not to look weak in front of my ally, but this is a difficult task. I grab my bow and my quiver as I clench my teeth as a drag my foot over to the ladder. I climb up it very slow and my foot explodes with pain each step up we get. Once I get into the house I slump onto the couch and let out a sigh of relief.

It is not long after that Louis walks in and sits next to me. He asks, “Are you hungry?”

“Not really.” I reply to him as I am holding my foot.

“Take off your shoe.” He orders.

“Excuse me?”

“So that we can see how bad it is.” He explains to me.

“Don’t worry its just a little sore, maybe swollen, but I’m fine don't worry!” I lied to him.

He looked at me with his dark brown eyes and plead, “It will give me some peace at mind, please?” I don’t ask any more questions and I take off my black, left combat boot. The pain was so terrible of taking off the boot,but I pretended it didn’t by just giving out a huge, fake smile. I slowly roll off my sock and we both drop our jaws at my foot. It is disfigured and purple, and it hurts more than it looks.“We aren’t leaving today.” He states firmly.

“What? We have to!” I say as I look at him with widened eyes.

“You are in no condition to leave this house right now.” He shoots back almost angrily. I slouch more into the couch and cross my arms like a toddler that doesn't get their way as if that will change his mind. I pout for about five minutes before attempting to get up. As soon as my left foot has pressure I whimper and cry, “I didn't need it anyways.”I slump into the couch once again.

“What do you need?” He asks me as he looks up from cleaning his gun, again.

“I was just going to get some painkiller that I got.” I told him.

“Well let me get it for you.” He smiles at me.I watch him cross the room to get a painkiller, water, a fork, and a can of pineapple.

I look up at him and question, “Why the food?”

He replies, “It says that it should be taken on a full stomach.”

I don’t question him any further and eat my pineapple in silence. He gets up once again to look through the medicine stockpile. He comes back not a minute later with an ACE bandage and then lightly grabs my foot. I don't object to him doing this because my foot needs pressure on it. I clench my teeth because at first it hurt, but then it feels marvelous. I set down my pineapple and stand up to try to walk. I can walk so much easier than before. I limp back to the couch and say, “Can we please go today.”

He doesn’t look up but replies with a grunt.I stare at him with a puppy dog face and I am batting my eyelashes.

About ten seconds later he looks up at my face and sighs, “Fine.”

“Yay!” I shout in excitement, “Shall we get packing?”

He doesn’t speak but he gets up and starts to take the canned goods to the car. I toss him the keys when he is down there and the pops the trunk. I go inside to get the water bottles and I roll them all onto the deck. I throw each one down to Louis. After we get all the food and water in the car, we still have a bunch of room. I throw down some pillows and blankets for him to pack up. I throw down one empty duffel bag just in case we may ever need them. I go back inside to get the backpack that I have never used but kept ready for emergencies. I keep a few canned goods, matches, a knife, and a bottle of water in there and it is still very empty. I decided that from now on I will have this backpack next to me for emergencies. I put an extra pair of clothes, pencils, a notebook, and my calendar. I have always has to know what day it is and this particular calendar will last another two years. The apocalypse started February 3, 2013 and it is now July 27, 2013.

Before we head out, I grab my solar powered wristwatch and let it soak up some sun. I grab the duffel bag that I left up here to grab more of my items. I pack any clothesI have laying around, my soap, books, can opener, wire hangers, and of course, my hair care products. I throw the filled duffel bag to Louis from the deck and he places it into the car. I limp back inside to grab the medicine and some plastic bags. I put three of the vitamins, three painkillers, and three fever reducers into a small plastic bag and set it in my emergency backpack. I shove the bottles of medicine into my backpack before I throw it down and grab my bow and quiver. As I am about to go down the ladder I snatch my wristwatch and then proceed. I carefully go down the ladder making sure not to have wrong footing again. Once I’m down, I stare at my fortress and think to myself, “I hope that this will save someone’s life one day.” I slip into the passenger seat with a gas extractor, extra gas, and more water. Louis goes into the driver’s side to start up the car. It’s only ten in the morning and I’m ready for this day to end.